Network address translation (NAT) is a technique that is used to map more than one host device to a single IP (Internet Protocol) address. The hosts behind a NAT device have private or “hidden” addresses and typically initiate communication through the NAT device. For incoming packets, the NAT device routes the packets to the private address of the host device. As a side effect of its multiplexing, the NAT obscures the connectivity information for the host devices behind a NAT device from devices outside the private network.